22 Jul 2022

Upadesha Prakaranam (Topic of Advices)

Jump to other chapters in BRAHMAJṆĀNAM (The Knowledge of God)

1) Adharma nirayāt tasya, virodhāddharma māśrayet |
Nivṛttau vyatyayaḥ kvā'pi, Dharmasyā'pi balaṃ prabhuḥ ||

[In Pravrutti, every soul must follow Dharma or justice and reject Adharma or injustice because a) Justice gives heaven and justice is liked by God and b) Injustice gives hell and injustice is disliked by God. God also follows justice only because He is the author of the divine constitution supporting justice only. Only in the case of climax devotees of Nivrutti, God competes with justice to test devotees whether they vote for Him or for justice. In such a competition, voting for God is justified because God is the protector of justice and justice protects any soul following justice, which happens due to the background strength of God only.]

2) Bhaktairnivṛtti ranītā, Pravṛttiḥ kapi bālavat |
Mārjāla śiśuvaccānyā, yataśśreṣṭhā vilokitā ||

[In fact, Nivrutti, which is the dealing of the soul with God is invented by devotees and is not introduced by God because God is not interested that somebody shall worship Him personally. He is always interested in the administration of souls by establishing a set of rules supporting justice. In Pravrutti, the soul has to take complete responsibility for its protection like a baby-monkey catching the stomach of its mother. But, in Nivrutti, God takes the entire responsibility of the soul like a mother-cat catching its child by its mouth. Hence, devotees discovered that Nivrutti is far far higher than Pravrutti.]

3) Ahimsādye pare prāṇo, niṣkāma Karmayoga dhīḥ |
Dhī manaḥ prāk paraṃ yogaḥ, nānyaḥ panthā Gurukramāt ||

[In Pravrutti or worldly life, non-violence (especially not killing birds and animals for food) and in the Nivrutti or Spiritual life, doing practical service and practical sacrifice without aspiring for any fruit in return are the lives. Veda says that there is only one path to reach and get the grace of God and there is no second path (nānyaḥ panthāḥ… - Veda). Readers of the Gītā misunderstand that there are two alternative paths to reach God:- a) Theoretical knowledge and b) Practical action of service and sacrifice (Jñānayogena sāṃkhyānām..- Gītā). But God Krishna told that both are one alone indicating that there is a single path and not two alternative paths (Ekaṃ sāṃkhyaṃ ca yogaṃ ca…- Gītā). Knowledge is the first, theoretical devotion is the second and practice is the third stage. Here, knowledge and practice only are mentioned because knowledge spontaneously generates theoretical devotion, and both knowledge and devotion come under the first phase of the path. Practice is the second phase of the path. You have to put effort to study the knowledge and put effort to practice the studied knowledge. Devotion is spontaneous and hence, need not be mentioned. The sequence of the three divine preachers is also as per the above sequence only. Shankara (knowledge) came first, Raamaanuja (devotion) came next and finally Madhva (practice) came to this earth.]

4) Araṇye'sti mahāvṛkṣo, Rājā vaidya vṛto mṛtaḥ |
Nityamālambyatāṃ Daivam, karmādau nājñatā yadi ||

[In a forest, a huge tree exists forever even though nobody has put the seed and watered it. By God’s will, such huge tree appeared. A king, called as the protector of everybody in the kingdom dies even though several doctors are attending to him. Hence, one should always catch God only either in Pravrutti or Nivrutti. Some scholars say that in the first stage, practice shall be done, devotion comes later on and finally God gives knowledge. This is absurd because if one serves a person thinking of him as the Sadguru with devotion and finally if the achieved knowledge is wrong, it is a waste of time. Moreover, without hearing the knowledge, how can devotion develop without any valid reason? Hence, after listening to true knowledge, devotion develops spontaneously on the Sadguru, which finally leads to practical service and sacrifice. It should not be like an educational institution in which fees shall be paid in advance before admission.]

5) Pravṛttau saṅgraho bhūri, Nivṛttau mukhya lakṣyatā |
Paṭhanāśana vidyārthī, Jīvo Brahmaṇi vartatām ||

[In Pravrutti or worldly life, brevity shall be followed so that energy and time are saved for detailed dealings in Nivrutti. Nivrutti is like studying in college and Pravrutti is like taking food and residing in the hostel. The aim of joining college is to learn and study to get the degree and hostel is only secondary, supporting the main aim. Similarly, Nivrutti shall be the main aim of life and Pravrutti is just a supporting secondary field. Just like the above-mentioned student, a soul shall mainly concentrate on the spiritual knowledge of God.]

6) Avidyayā sadā bhraṃśāḥ, vidyā gītā prakarṣataḥ |
Tayo rjambūka siṃhatve, ślokenoktaṃ purātanaiḥ |

[The misinterpretations leading to misunderstandings resulting in continuous mistakes based on ignorance (Ajñāna or Avidyā) are happening due to the lack of thorough spiritual knowledge that shall be always discussed in depth using very sharp analysis. The Gita says that among the branches of knowledge, spiritual knowledge is the king (Adhyātma vidyā vidyānām) because it deals with the most important main aim of life. Ancient scholars recite a verse that says that as long as the spiritual knowledge-lion does not roar, the other branches of knowledge cry like foxes in a forest (Tāvat garjanti śāstrāṇi, Jambukā vipine yathā, na garjati mahā tejā, yāvat Vedānta kesarī)!]

7) Ahaṃterṣye sadā tyājye, Jñānāya vinayaṃ vrajet |
Ihaiva sto jñāna gamye, gurudevastu Sadguruḥ ||

[You must always leave ego and jealousy in every step of your life. Even if you are attacked by these two, you should use them by turning them towards their good faces. You can use ego to develop your confidence but not to grow your pride. You can use jealousy for your self-development, but not to criticize and harm others. If you want to get spiritual knowledge, you must be always with submissiveness by which others will not have ego-based jealousy towards you. You are on this earth. Your path, spiritual knowledge is also on this earth only. Your goal, God, is also on this earth in the name of the Sadguru. ‘Sat’ means God and ‘Guru’ means the preacher or guide in your path of knowledge. Sadguru or Gurudeva means both guide and goal.]

8) Bhakti karmā'sti sarvatra, sādhanaṃ sādhya māviśa |
Dṛṣṭāntābhyāṃ mārgamehi, sudhāṃ jñāna mahārṇavāt ||

[Devotion, practical service and practical sacrifice of fruit of work exists everywhere. There is no dearth of these three at present. What is absent is true spiritual knowledge by which there will be right direction for the above mentioned three concepts. Even though preachers are preaching knowledge, they are preaching everything except the essential concepts which alone can lead devotion and practice (Karma yoga) in the right direction. What is that missing point? The missing clue is that every devotee is interested and involved in instrumental devotion only and not in goal devotion. Instrumental devotion means that God is made as an instrument to achieve some selfish benefits only, which are the goals. Goal devotion means God is the goal and He is not used as instrument to achieve something other than Him. If you leave this instrumental devotion and follow goal devotion, which is obtained simply by the attraction and love towards the divine personality of God so that there is no business account between yourself and God, God will take care of you in every angle that is good for you without your asking for anything.

When you achieve the mighty ocean of spiritual knowledge, the essence of the ocean i.e., the divine nectar is the concept explained by two examples, which are the components of your right path to please God and get His full grace. Those two are:- i) The issue devotion shown by you towards your children in which you do practical service and practical sacrifice of your entire fruit of work without aspiring for anything in return from them. ii) Devotion of a mad fan of a political icon or a cinema hero in which the fan does not receive any benefit from the hero and moreover spends from his pocket only for the sake of the hero. The climax of his mad devotion is seen when he burns himself when the hero dies!]

Iti Brahma Jñānam iti granthaḥ samāptaḥ
Like this, this book called Brahma Jñānam is completed.

Chapter-1: Matāntarīkaraṇa Prakaraṇam

Chapter-2: Parabrahma Prakaraṇam

Chapter-3: Māyā Śakti Prakaraṇam

Chapter-4: Īśvara Prakaraṇam

Chapter-5: Avatāra Prakaraṇam

Chapter-6: Ākāśa Tejaḥ Prakaraṇam

Chapter-7: Vibhūti Prakaraṇam

Chapter-8: Sṛṣṭilakṣya Prakaraṇam

Chapter-9: Jagat Sṛṣṭi Prakaraṇam

Chapter-10: Jīvātma Tattva Prakaraṇam

Chapter-11: Matasamanvaya Prakaraṇam